Parking a link: “Five Myths About the Berlin Wall”

Last updated on: February 26, 2015 at 11:05 pm by Jane the Actuary

Parking a link: “Five Myths About the Berlin Wall” 2015-02-26T23:05:33-06:00 Jane the Actuary

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This was in the Tribune a bit ago as a syndicated piece, but here it is from the original Washington Post source, “Five Myths About the Berlin Wall.” (The link seems to be directly accessible rather than requiring a google search, such as my own myth + Berlin Wall, to get there.)

Now, this article doesn’t have any real myths, so I present it to you mostly as a “mock the author” opportunity: most of the so-called “myths” are based on an apparent inability to understand figurative language.

“Myth” 1 is “The Berlin Wall was one wall.” Of course not, and nobody ever thought it was a simple wall, like the Great Wall of China. People generally understand that there was a no-man’s-land and guard towers, and so on.

“Myth” 2 is “Building the Berlin Wall was a key Soviet move in the Cold War.” Do people really think this? Isn’t it generally known that it was built because the regime in the East didn’t like the continual exodus of East Germans, especially professionals, to the West?

“Myth” 3, “President Ronald Reagan brought down the wall” and “Myth” 4, “The wall fell on Nov. 9, 1989,” are both based on a stubborn literalism. Yes, the immediate circumstances preceding the opening of the border had nothing to to with Reagan (massive protests by the East Germans themselves, and internal plotting by reformers within the regime — but only after Gorbachev told the Soviet satellites that he wouldn’t prevent them from reforming with a repeat of ’68, which may be his own leadership or influenced by events in which Reagan had a part, depending on your read), and yes, the border was opened but the gates weren’t torn down, on that momentous night, but that’s being silly.

And “Myth”5 isn’t even true: the author says that it’s false that “the Germans are as enthusiastic as the rest of the world in celebrating the fall of the wall,” because of the Ostalgie that many East Germans felt towards their old life, with its greater certainty, and the resentment that West Germans felt towards the added costs, including a special “unification tax.” But come on, their national day is October 3, which was the day on which East and West Germany officially reunified. And, even as much as Germany experienced disruptions due to the unification more than the rest of the world, it was their own frickin’ country that was divided.

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